The Captivity and Restoration of Princess Katara
by Starry o.0
Summary: The public writings of Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe; highest ranking water bender throughout all nations; master bloodbender; head healer of the Water Nation alliance; betrothed of the Avatar. Prisoner of the Fire Nation for four years. ((I feel I must preface my story with a forewarning to you, reader... Not all princess' lives end in fairy-tales...))


_The private writings of Katara_

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I feel I must preface my story with a forewarning to you, reader. One cannot take all words and sentences written down as truth, as stories are written for many reasons. Just as one cannot judge how well a bed sleeps until it has been slept in, one cannot be so folly to believe that all princess' live's end as fairytales promise.

At this moment, I am two weeks from being wed. I am a month home. "Home" is where I'm told I am, at least. Two elder women escorted me off the Water Nation war ship and pushed me inside this place and told me, "You are home now." - so that has become its name. I suppose, though, that I did grow up inside these walls; suppose a mere four years ago I lived here with my mother and father and brother. I grew, and loved, and laughed here, and the memories aren't so long past to make remembering any of it difficult. So I call it "home," though the word feels unfitting when I do.

The council has visited very little, and said even less. The old ones are worried. They say it was strange I asked for another coat of fur to wear beneath the customary tribal robes all must wear for meetings in the capitol building. It is strange, they say, that I keep a fire going in the middle of the day. Strange that my bending stance no longer looks like the Southern style passed down for generations. Strange my brother and I have not spoken since we left the ship four weeks ago. Strange how I didn't embrace my fiance when I saw him for the first time in over four years a few days ago.

If there was a single word I could wish nixed out of language, I would now wish it were "strange."

I must write this account for two reasons. Most pressing on me is to fulfill the council's wishes.

They wish to know I have kept my allegiance to the tribe. I am still Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, but it seems my tribe has grown wary of me in my absence. My apparent "strangeness" since returning has only deepened their mistrust. My brother, of course, stirred little concern (as Sokka is Sokka through and through - I do not believe even amnesia could change him) and was welcomed back with open arms. Two days after coming home he officially took the seat of our father, his birthright, as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

And soon I will be married to Aang, sealing the currently unofficial alliance between water and air. This has been my destiny since my eleventh birthday. However, I must gain the trust of my tribe once again, or I will be deemed "unfit" for the union and the elders will call it off. My brother, I'm afraid, will not be able to override this decision - though I have no way of knowing if this is true or not, as he refuses to speak to me after our last conversation.

Above all else, I will keep the word of my father. I will marry the Avatar and I will unite the nations against fire. No matter what inside me has changed, the loyalty I still hold to my father cannot be swayed. This is a truth so strong it is known even in distant lands across the ocean; even by my enemies; even by the Prince of the Fire Nation...

My people must trust, so I will offer my certitude.

The second reason for this account is personal: I wish to remember all of it. If it comes from a hand different than my own, I fear it will lose what I wish to save. I fear the verbal recounting of my tale a hundred times will make the small matters fade like sunsets. I pray my story, as written now for their assurance (and assured entertainment), will not be read by my tribe as what I am truly writing it for, what I will read between the lines fifty years from now when my memory is failing.

But if I do not write what I must for my heart… I fear if I do not write the truth somehow... I will lose it. All precious things go, but this must be something I preserve with all my strength.

I pray that if you, reader, cannot understand, I will still be blessed to read my truths between these words even as old age takes my mind. With you, I will share my privates writings; memories that must never be known by any of my people.

This is the story published and made available for the intent of informing the Water Tribes on their Southern Princess' four years spent in captivity. This is my story, of the time spent in the Fire Nation: from age 18, when I was captured, to age 22 at my release.

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 **The Captivity and Restoration of Princess Katara**

 _The public writings of Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe; highest ranking water bender throughout all nations; master bloodbender; head healer of the Water Nation alliance; betrothed of the Avatar._

 _Prisoner of the Fire Nation for four years. Restored to the Water Tribe through treaty on her 22nd birthday._

….

 _Year One, Day One_

The children playing in the tribe's city square fell silent for the first time in their lives when the ships broke the ocean horizon.

For a few passing seconds, the silence hung like question.

I was sitting on the steps of the capitol building overlooking the square, waiting for my father and brother to finish meeting with the council. I watched the young ones freeze, their heads turned towards the sea, their innocence unknowingly taking it's last breath.

The dreadfully beautiful stillness of that moment is a photograph forever ingrained on my mind.

The calm was short lived. The war horns were on the wind before the children knew to scream. They had never seen Fire Nation ships, after all. Never before had the Fire Nation been able to make ships strong enough to sail the ocean this far south… until now.

Chaos broke out before me. Little ones screaming, parents screaming; it was impossible to find anyone in the sea of bodies that suddenly overtook the square. I was frozen on the steps. Looking back now, I could have done more. I could have taken control, rose before my people on those steps and commanded their attention; told them where to go, how to go there. Maybe I could have done something to change everything. For six months then I had held the position of head healer; I had the military authority to do this… yet I did not.

Instead I sat there, watching everything fall to pieces. Many mistakes were made that day.

The screaming alerted those inside the building. The door flew open and crashed against the side of the building. I heard my father's voice behind me, loud and powerful.

"Stay calm! Stay calm! All warriors report to the front of the capitol building! Civilians find cover inside!"

How quickly my father was able to fall into leadership always amazed me. The council members flew down the steps into the crowd and attempted to create some order. Sokka was beside me, pulling me up with urgency. His blue eyes were wide, his expression nothing like the goofy grin I was used to. The terror on his face scared me more than the ships, more than the confusion before me. "Katara, go home. Get mom and go to the basement. You need to protect her- you have to stay safe."

I was nodding. Mom needed me. We must stay safe. I had spent my whole life letting Sokka protect me, it was second nature to listen.

My father's large hand fell gently on my shoulder, his other landed on Sokka's. His face was perfectly controlled and his shoulders straight - as if the village being under attack was an everyday occurrence . Only his eyes conveyed the slightest bit of apprehension.

"Son, our people and our warriors need Katara here. She isn't your baby sister anymore," he said.

Sokka looked completely panicked. "Dad, she can't-"

"And while she's still my baby girl, she's also the commander of our healers. You knew this might happen when you nominated her, Sokka. I knew this might happen when I appointed her."

Sokka threw our father's hand off. "She isn't old enough!"

"Today she must be. For the Southern Water Tribe, she must." Hakoda's tone was absolute.

Perhaps my brother intended to argue still, but I will never know. For the next second, our coast trembled as huge balls of fire rained down across the part of the village closest to the shoreline. It shook my brother and father, but the power of the impacts threw me to the ground. The flames engrossed everything, even the ice we built our city on seemed to ignite. The barrage their ships were sending seemed to overtake the whole sky - a perfectly painted orange sunset falling down upon my people. A wall of fire was being built between the city and the ocean, cutting us off from our ships.

It was Hakoda who pulled me to my feet this time. I don't know what look my face was wearing, but my father's hand tightened around arm.

"Katara, go into the city and get civilians still outside to safety. Heal minor wounds immediately. If their injuries are too severe, heal what you can, get them to shelter and move on. There is no time to be spent on uncertainties. Find all those under your command - tell them the same order. Warriors are healed first, civilians second. Fighting is your last option, we need you in the back lines for the wounded. When the Fire troops reach the city you and the healers come back to the capitol building and begin setting up a hospital in the basement. There should be enough supplies there. Do you understand?"

I will tell you the complete and honest truth. I did not understand. I had never seen war before. I was a strong waterbender - the strongest, the elders proclaimed - but I had never practiced in battle, or healed on the battlefield. My teaching did not extend past the classroom or hospital, or match competitions and evaluations. I will tell you now that my father made a mistake in promoting me to such a high position of power so quickly. I had always rebuffed the whispers of this accusation in council meetings and on the street, but in hindsight, I will admit.

Hakoda had put too much faith in me.

But that day, I said, "I understand." He patted my shoulder once and turned to say something to Sokka I couldn't hear. I saw through the tall flames at the edge of the village the Fire Ships reaching the shore. The warriors were quickly amassing before the three of us, filing into lines at the bottom of the capitol building's stairs, waiting for orders.

In the midst of it all a hush fell upon the village once again. There were few left in the streets. The majority of civilians had flown into their homes before the bombardment of fire. My father, my brother and I stood before our tribe's warriors. On the right were the waterbenders, on the left were the fighters. All three hundred of them stood at attention, squashed into the next like sardines in a can. To this day, I believe I could sit down and write the name of every single man and woman who stood there that morning. I will never forget the look of complete loyalty on their faces as they looked upon my father.

Most all of them are dead.

"Go now, Katara. You can do this," Hakoda said.

I stole down the steps. Though limited in space, the warriors parted a path for me as I ran. I repeated my father's words like a mantra in my head: 'You can do this - you can do this - you can do this.' There were less than 20 healers in the village, but the troops were no more than ten minutes from attacking. I ran for my life that day, weaving through the village, pounding on the doors of those under my command. Luckily, because of their positions as medics, most lived near the capitol building. My mother was the only healer who lived a great distance out, but I had already decided I wasn't going to order my mother into combat. I believed, that day, she was safer at home.

Half of those I commanded were of my father's age. When I arrived to summon them, their families informed me they had already reported to the capitol building. That alone saved me almost 5 minutes. However, the other half were younger. Some of them followed orders without question, rushing out of their homes the second the words left my lips. Some of us Water Healers are born with the passion - something that ignites within us when we're called to save a life, that calls us to run headfirst into battle without a thought of ourselves. I believe I once had this within me. A few of the others I called upon, most closer in age to me, turned white as the snow and froze like ice. These I had to coax out, reminding them of their duty. Let me tell you, it's hard convincing someone when you're only half convinced yourself.

By the time I ordered the last of my healers I could hear the Fire nation drums on the edge of the city. I ran back through the streets towards the capitol building. It felt like a dream, like I was only half aware of what was about to happen. I was only a pinch away from waking up, safe and sound in my bed at home with the smell of breakfast wafting through my door. Instead, our warriors were slowly advancing towards the city gates, intending to meet the Fire Nation head on.

My father had always been a defensive tactician, so this move surprised me. But water is stronger than fire. It was foolish for the Fire Nation to attack us here, at the South Pole, surrounded by our element. I believed then this was my father's thought when I saw he had moved our warriors into a battle position, instead of a defensive position as he always had before.

Many mistakes were made that day.

Once again, the warriors parted as I ran through them and back up the steps where my father and brother stood with the elders. Their voices were loud and rough, Hakoda's hand was on Sokka's shoulder and my brother's face was red like tomatoes. It was a color I was accustomed to: they were in an argument with the council.

"It is unwise to attack them head-on! We should employ guerilla tactics, set traps, make their troops work their way through a booty-trapped city. By their ships alone, they probably outman us one to three!"

My brother put his finger right in the face of the head elder. "You would risk civilian lives with those dirty tricks! We fight like men to protect our family, not hide like cowards and endanger those whose homes we must hide in!"

"You know nothing of war, boy," another elder yelled, "Hakoda, you must think about this! Our troops aren't prepared for an invasion. Our city is not fortified for a full-scale battle! A few civilian casualties must be risked in order to preserve the Southern Water Tribe."

It was then I made it to my father's side. His eyes were closed, his brow creased. It seemed he aged five years in the ten minutes I was gone. "Father, I alerted all the healers. They should be in the basement."

"Good. Are they preparing a space for the wounded?"

I nodded. "Yes, they have orders to."

"And your daughter, you believe she is old enough to keep command down there? Surely it would be wise to place your wife in control. Katara has not received enough military training! We need someone to keep control down there," the head councilman said.

The other elders nodded in agreement. "With such few healers for so many warriors, we need someone with experience," one said.

Another added, "The head healer needs the insight and ability to make the tough calls Hakoda, you know this. Can your daughter handle the choice of who lives and who dies?"

It was irritating, listening to them talk about me like I wasn't there. Degrading my skills like I wasn't good enough to handle my position. I huffed and glared at the last elder who spoke, "None of them will die under my command!"

And that was, perhaps, the worst thing I could've said. All the elders turned to my father, a knowing look in their eye. My father pinched his brow.

"Katara, you are strong. You will be a wonderful commander, but in battle not everyone can be saved. Sometimes you must choose, and sometimes not choosing loses two lives instead of one."

I know now, he was right. Then, I was devastated to hear my father tell me I wasn't ready. "I can do this, father. Let me show-"

"Your mother will take temporary command of the healers during the battle."

"No, please, I-"

"Katara, enough. There isn't time. You have your orders, now take your brother downstairs with you and inform your mother."

"What! But I want to help here - I want to fight! I'm no use to the healers," Sokka argued. "Why do I need to go down there?"

"You will help the healers bring the wounded in from out here. That is how you will help fight."

Sokka shook his head, "That isn't fighting, and I'm not doing it. I'm going out with the warriors." My brother made it two steps down before he froze in place.

One of the elders, Hama, had her hands towards him. "You have received your orders, boy. Listen to your chief or I will force you. I have grown tired of the insolence of your children, Hokoda."

"Master - stop!" I screamed, running to Sokka's side. His face was twisted in pain; having your blood bended is far from pleasant. And Hama, from experience, was far from gentle when employing it. I know this because she taught me. I could feel her grip on him with my waterbending, but I didn't dare force her to let go. It would cause extreme pain for my brother if we fought for control within him.

"Hama, that's enough!" My father yelled. Sokka collapsed on the steps the next second. I pulled him up gently and let him rest his weight on me. He was glaring daggers at my old master. "Everyone needs to gain control of themselves!" Hakoda said, "We've never been invaded before, but now is not the time to lose control of your emotions! My children haven't seen battle, but the rest of you have, and I expect you all to act with cooler heads!"

All of us bowed. Feeling shamed, I chose then to make my way into the capitol building. I slung Sokka's arm around my shoulders and helped him through the doorway before turning on him. "We have a problem."

"Yeah, that old hag almost killed me!"

"No, Sokka, listen! I didn't tell mom to come here, I thought she'd be safer at home. She isn't downstairs!"

Sokka shook his head, "Katara! Dad ordered you to get all the healers… why would you go against orders?"

"You told me at the start I should keep her safe at home!" I said in disbelief, "Now you're criticizing me for doing it. And telling me I shouldn't go against orders - that's rich coming from you. How does Hama's handiwork feel?"

Sokka pulled me towards a side door we could exit and not be seen by our father and the elder's out front. "Whatever, we don't have time for arguing. We've gotta go get mom, dad will kill you if he finds out she isn't in command down there."

I nodded, "But do we both need to go? What if I'm needed down there?"

He stopped and thought. "I don't know. If you go now without mom, they'll know you didn't order her here like you were supposed to. One of them is bound to tell. If we show up with her, they'll probably think we were all in a meeting with dad and the council. What do you think?"

Many mistakes were made that day.

I didn't want to risk the wrath of my father. "We have to hurry then. The Fire Nation has probably reached our warriors, we can't get stuck in the battle. I've been ordered not to fight, as have you."

My brother nodded, and we rushed out the side door. The start of a battle could be heard at the edge of the village as we sprinted through the back streets towards our house. I could feel the bending happening through the energy of the ice at my feet. Screams and drums pounded at my footfalls. Still, it was like a dream.

We reached our house in record time. Sokka stood guard at my back as I pounded on the door, yelling, "Mom, it's Katara, please open! Please!" And I must have tried a minute straight, I tell you. The battle was moving farther into the city - I could almost feel the heat of the firebending flames against the freezing air of the South Pole.

Panicked, I looked back at Sokka. "Do you have your key? She isn't answering!" I didn't want to think the worst, so I was trying my hardest to believe she wasn't answering because she was in the cellar hiding.

"It's back in the capitol building!"

"Fuck, fuck!" I pulled at my hair. "What do we do? Go back? I have to know mom's safe!"

My brother turned towards the door, eyes scanning the front of the house warily, "Have you tried opening it?"

"Of course I have, mother never leaves it open anyway! Fuck, Sokka, tell me what to do!"

He walked over to the door and wiggled the knob.

"I told you I tried-"

"It's open," he said, looking down on me and rolling his eyes. He pushed the door open, "Mom! It's just us, dad needs you in the capitol building to help heal!"

The two of us stood in the living room, listening for her movement. The fire was going, the light was on in the kitchen. Our mother was nowhere to be seen. I was still convincing myself not to think the worst.

A few more seconds of silence passed. "Mom! Where are you!" I yelled louder. Something was creeping over, a sense of wakening. It felt like one of those dreams where you're falling - that split second before you hit the ground but wake up instead. It felt like the haze I'd been running through all day today was clearing with a start.

Sokka must've felt something too, because he had positioned himself in front of me and was backing me out of our house. "Katara, let's get out of here. We've been gone too long, wherever mom is I'm sure she's fine."

It was a harsh laugh coming from our kitchen at my brother's words that finally shook me awake that day - the type of awakening that one is never able to fall asleep from again. Something inside of me died that very moment, something I cannot name… something I can never get back.

A man stepped into our view from behind the kitchen wall. Dressed in full Fire Nation military armor, a sword strapped to his side and wearing the most wicked smile I'll ever see.

"How sure are you about that, boy?" The man said. He brought his right arm, which had been hidden behind the wall still, into view. I screamed, Sokka cursed - but our mother stayed deathly quiet. He had her by the hair, dragging her across the floor, tied up in rope with a gag across her mouth.


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